I received a gifted galley of THE DAYDREAMS by Laura Hankin for an honest review. Thank you to Berkley Publishing and PRH Audio for the opportunity!
Rating: 4 / 5
Publication Date: 5/2/2023
THE DAYDREAMS follows Kat. She is a lawyer working Washington with a great boyfriend and a life that seems to be heading the right direction. Back in the early 2000s her life looked a lot different. As a teen she was on her own, staring in a very popular show about a cast of singing teens seeking stardom. They seemed to have it made until a live performance galls apart and one of the stars seems to have a meltdown on stage. That is the end of The Daydreams.
In the present day, the stars are all living very separate life. When the one among them who has gone on to actual fame and notoriety mentions he’d be open to a reunion, the rest of the cast is assembled. Kat doesn’t want to derail her life for a return to the stage, but she is talked into it. Together again relationships are reformed, secrets revealed, and life is once more complicated.
This was a really fun listen and I think the author did a fantastic job of making this seem like a group who would still be known for their teen stardom and called upon to revisit the show long ended, especially in our present day of reboots. The paparazzi and adoring fans and the general public pressure really showed some of the highs and lows for the cast.
I think the dual timelines were also well done to slowly reveal some secrets and also show how the relationships between cast members and the show were formed and broken and reassembled. Seeing the way the show played on the cast’s personalities or worked against them was interesting as well. No one was as perfect as they were meant to be seen, but also the ‘villain’ wasn’t always so villainous either.
This is one that was fun to binge and the audio was really well done. THE DAYDREAMS is out now!
DG Reads 